Savannah Vampire - The Vampire's Secret Part 26

I took my hand away and tried not to feel hurt. She was right: She needed time to deal. And if, after she had time to get used to the idea of what I was, she never wanted anything more to do with me, there'd be plenty of time for me to learn to deal. The rest of my undead life. I made up my mind I wasn't going to think about that now.

Connie rubbed her arms like she was feeling chilled all over. "Why did he-the other vampire-kill Sullivan?"

"I don't know for sure but I aim to find out. It was senseless. There was no reason for Will to kill Sullivan that I can see.

Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"You had your back to them when Will first came along, but I was facing them. Right before he got attacked, I saw Sullivan talking to Will outside. Sullivan looked all casual at first, and then his expression changed, like he 'd just remembered who he was talking to."

"Maybe he knew him from somewhere before tonight and only just then realized it."

"Yeah. But where?"

"You said Sullivan was a vampire's servant. You mean Iban's?" she asked, putting two and two together. That's my girl.

"Yeah. Do you have an idea?"

"Maybe. Did Iban ever meet Will?"

"No. Not that I know of. What are you thinking?"

"Maybe they'd met somewhere before and Will had done something he knew the other vampires-the good vampires- wouldn't approve of, like killing innocent humans. Iban is one of the good guys, right?"

"Definitely. The best I know." I would have said that about William a few days ago. I was still reeling from learning he 'd killed innocent homeless people in the tunnels. "You might be on to something. I should go and ask Iban about it. Before it's too late."

"What's that supposed to mean? Is something wrong with Iban? Is that what the big emergency was that caused Sullivan to go running out of my apartment the other night?" c.r.a.p. I'd said too much. Again. "Yeah," I admitted. "Yeah. Iban's got some kind of vampire plague. It's bad. Really bad."

"Are the rest of you exposed?" Connie looked alarmed. "Jack-are you in danger?"

I nodded. "Connie, there's no easy way to tell you this, and you have to promise not to tell anybody else so as not to cause a panic. Not only are the rest of us vampires at risk, but you may be, too."

Connie's eyes grew wide again. "Oh, my G.o.d," she gasped.

Yep, you could say this was not a good night for her.

William I opened my eyes. The heavy weight of my-of Diana's ring seemed to burn the flesh of my finger. I pulled it off.

Jack, I called without rising from the floor of my office. I had to know what had happened, what Will had done. If he 'd killed Jack I should know, feel diminished. But after the emotional avalanche of discovering Diana's existence and her potent connection to her lord, Hugo, I felt numb to all but despair. Could things possibly be as bad as they looked?

Jack.

What? came his surprised and decidedly irritated response. Obviously he was alive and well, but not altogether happy.

Welcome to my world. May as well join the h.e.l.l-bound procession.

What has Will done? Whose blood is on his hands?

Jack didn't answer right away. I probed harder but he was blocking me. I pushed up to a sitting position and focused my anger in his direction.

It was Sullivan, Jack shot back.

I told you to keep an eye on Will. How could you let this happen?

Hey, he's your-He stopped. I could feel him drawing in a breath. I did the best I could. Connie shot him in the chest, but it was too late.

Connie? What the h.e.l.l are you doing getting her involved in our business?

It's not like I had a choice. You know what, the next time you need a babysitter, why don't you- Stop! If you feel no loyalty to me then recognize that you are still sworn to me for another forty years. You will do as I say until I'm finished with you.

It looked as though Jack and I were to remain adversaries after all. I felt besieged. There had been too much wanting and needing and not enough doing. It was two hours until dawn. Time to retrieve Iban from Tilly 's and to take him to Isle of Hope.

Time to make a plan on how to organize this sudden chaos, how to tell Iban that his companion was dead, killed by the son of my body. I opened the door on my way out and found Eleanor in the hallway.

She drew herself up straighter to face me. "We need to talk."

The last thing I wanted to do...but necessary. No sense keeping Eleanor on edge about our precarious position. The strong wind blowing over our house of cards would collapse us all soon enough. We would, every one of us, be required to put up a fight.

I nodded. She turned and walked away, expecting me to follow. "Tell me," she said, looking fearful and suddenly very humanlike. We'd reached what until a few days ago had been our master suite. To me, as a being who'd lived for hundreds of years, our honeymoon had pa.s.sed more briefly than a breath. It was unfortunate that Eleanor had chosen to become a blood drinker only to be faced immediately by this terrible uncertainty: the good chance her newly forged immortality would be revoked and she would die along with her blood ties to me.

It was like honeymooning on the t.i.tanic.

I crossed the room and poured us both a gla.s.s of donated blood. When I held the gla.s.s out to her she shook her head. I insisted.

"Gerard says we all must feed to keep up our strength. He's found a cure for the sickness plaguing Iban but there's no prevention yet." I didn't tell her we should be feeding on humans. Selfishly I didn't want her out on the streets alone. I could only hope that by keeping her here, I'd keep her safe. She spent a long time looking into my eyes before accepting the gla.s.s.

"I wasn't sure you cared what happened to me anymore."

Ah, females and their intuition. She'd felt my physical and mental withdrawal. I searched for the feelings I 'd shared so openly with her, but seeing Diana had turned them to stone as completely as I 'd cursed my wicked sire, Reedrek. How does one break stone? Possibly only with a hammer and a chisel.

Or the heat of the sun.

"Who is she?"

"My...wife."

"You told me your wife was dead-killed hundreds of years ago."

"Yes, and until last night I believed that to be true."

"She's here, in Savannah?" She put down the half-empty gla.s.s and sank onto the leather ottoman. With stricken eyes she stared up at me. "Alive, a blood drinker, and here?"

Eleanor needed my touch, my rea.s.surance, but I had none to offer. I stood frozen in place. "Yes, I'm afraid so."

Our gazes remained locked for a long time. Then a log on the fire in the hearth popped and settled with a thud, goading me into motion. I set my gla.s.s down next to hers, bent, and raised her hand to my lips. "As your sire-" I kissed her wrist. "-I'll do my utmost to protect you. Stay here where you'll be safe."

She pulled her hand from my touch and rubbed the spot I'd kissed as though it would bruise. "Protect me from what?" Then, before I could answer, she added, "You're leaving?"

"Yes. You'll be safe here." From everyone but me. If I stayed I'd be buffeted by Eleanor's and Melaphia's pain; I had to get clear, to shut all the doors of emotion and concentrate on survival. There was no time to comfort or to love. No reason to punish those around me, like Deylaud, with my raging despair.

Eleanor pushed to her feet. "Are you going to her?"

I thought of watching Diana in her bath and desire must've flared in my eyes or simmered from my mind to Eleanor 's because she drew in a swift breath. "No, not to her." I opened my mind and presented her a brief vision of Hugo with his hands on Diana, accompanied by the blast of pain coiled inside me.

Eleanor gasped and brought a hand up to cover her heart.

"Not to her," I said again, and walked away.

Iban looked better than he had a right to, considering that he'd been literally rotting away mere hours before. Melaphia's blood truly had worked magic. I had a difficult time finding any true elation since the giving of that magic had caused her such harm, but Iban seemed truly grateful and inquired about his savior almost immediately on seeing me.

Sitting up and dressed in fresh clothes provided by Tilly, he seemed nearly his old self. His face still bore the occasional lump that moved under his skin but there were no open wounds, no egregious smells. "I owe her everything," he said of Melaphia. "And you as well, my lady," he said to Tilly.

Tilly blushed like a schoolgirl, then collected herself. "Our lovely city may have lost a good bit of its civility in the last sixty years, but I wouldn't hear of any visitor as charming as yourself being treated so abominably."

"Your servant, madame," Iban said with a nod.

As Gerard loaded his medical supplies into my Mercedes, Iban and I said our good-byes to Tilly. "I've come to relieve you of nursing duty," I informed her. "You look done in." I didn't want to add Tilly's name as one more person injured by their a.s.sociation with me.

"To tell the truth, you're right. This growing old business leaves a lot to be desired." She patted my arm, most likely remembering a time when she'd had a choice about her fate. She sighed in satisfaction. "But it was nice being needed again. For a brief time it felt like the old days. It's been too long a time since you and I were embroiled in life and death shenanigans."

"Yes, it has. And I hope to leave you well out of any further emergencies. But I thank you for your care in this one."

I moved to help Iban.

"I can manage," he said, once he was on his feet.

We drove in silence, Iban in the front, Gerard in the backseat, until I turned onto the road to Isle of Hope. "Where are we headed?" Iban asked. He'd been to my home in town enough times to know the way.

"To the house on Isle of Hope. We can spend the day there with Lucius."

"I sent Tobey and Travis back across country to track down the true source of the virus," Gerard added.

"Good," Iban replied. "The better I feel, the angrier I become about this attack."

I used the rest of the drive to explain what had happened since Iban had fallen ill, beginning with Hugo, Diana, and Will. For my own reasons, I didn't tell them about Will being my mortal son. I spent most of my time discussing Hugo. When we were settled in the living room of my house overlooking the Skidaway River, I was forced to fill in the last and most grievous news.

"I have more bad news," I warned.

Iban gave me a surprised glance.

"Sullivan is dead."

Gerard reacted before Iban. "What?"

Turning to stare straight ahead out the front window, Iban said, "He had the virus, too." A statement, not a question.

"No-I mean, perhaps. But that's not what killed him. He was murdered."

This time Iban reacted, his voice deadly. "By whom?" "By one of the newcomers-Will. I thought Sullivan would be safe at Jack's shop. Now I regret my faith in Jack." I didn't mention my miscalculation in leaving Will there. I'd simply been obsessed with getting to the sh.e.l.ls, and spying on Diana. Reaching for my own personal happiness had once again bloodied my nose, and in this case cost us a stalwart friend in Sullivan. How would I feel if it had been Melaphia or Renee?

"I should have been there to protect him," Iban said, meaning Sullivan. Then he looked at me. "Or you should have. Have you retaliated against this newcomer?"

"That's what we must discuss tonight, in the time we have left before dawn. There are no tunnels from this house or the plantation, where Will, Hugo, and Diana are. None of us will be able to move until sunset. By that time we must be ready."

The planning part of our meeting did not go as well as I'd hoped.

"I think it's time to choose a new leader," Lucius said immediately. "Before William gets us all killed."

I didn't make a sound, but I was sure the other three vampires in the room could feel my displeasure.

"I mean, look what happened. We're a.s.sured these new vamps are being controlled by a hostage. And what does the hostage do? He kills one of ours. What kind of plan was that?"

"At the least, an ineffective one," Iban said, looking at me with anger in his eyes for the first time in our acquaintance.

"You're blinded by your feelings for the past-your mortal wife," Lucius said. "I understand, but-"

"It will be the end of us," Iban added, finis.h.i.+ng Lucius's thought.

Why did everyone feel free to delve into my past? Then again, what did it matter? It's not as if I had any defense to offer. I had been blinded by the need to ride the sh.e.l.ls into a peek of Diana's life with Hugo. I had stolen the ring from Will, then left him at Jack's shop basically on his own recognizance. Fool. Fool. Three times a fool. When I didn't answer quickly enough for Iban's liking, he pushed to his feet, growing more agitated by the second. He'd been shocked to hear of Sullivan's death, but now he was filling with good old-fas.h.i.+oned fury.

I rose to my feet as well in response to the implied threat.

"Sullivan was mine to protect," Iban said. "Now he's dead along with the rest of my clan. I say we tear this Hugo and everyone with him into pieces too small to resurrect."

I raised a placating hand. "Iban-"

"Don't talk to me of restraint! I no longer care for your version of peace." Unable to contain his anger, he picked up the heavy mahogany coffee table and threw it across the room. As it crashed against the wall and sent shards of wood and plaster tumbling across the carpet, Gerard and Lucius jumped to their feet.

"Please, Iban. I'm sorry about Sullivan-" He hit me square in the chest, his momentum pus.h.i.+ng me backward. I didn't want to fight him and did my best to hold him away. Suddenly Lucius grasped him from behind. Though Iban was only at three -quarter strength because of his illness, it took both of us to pin him against the wall and hold him still.

"Fighting among ourselves won't solve anything, old friend," Lucius hissed into Iban's ear. "Rather let's pay a visit to their people left on the boat." He pinned me with his angry gaze. "We'll do better than kill them; we'll use them as our tools."

All the fight seemed to go out of Iban. There were tears in his eyes. "I have no one now." He stared at me and vowed, "The one who did this will not live."

Jack "Dammit!" William had blocked me. Well, just be that way. He could ride herd on his own whelp from now on, until I got the chance to kill that sonofab.i.t.c.h Will. I wasn't taking the fall for what happened to Sullivan. And I didn't want to have to face Iban until I'd sent that evil redheaded bloodsucker to h.e.l.l where he belonged.

Surely William would break the news to Iban-that is, if Iban still lived. I felt guiltily glad that I wouldn't have to do it.

I hated to face Connie again, after the news I'd just given her. But there was no help for it. "We don't know if humans can catch the virus or not," I said. "Sullivan could've been exposed by Iban or another clan member, and since we aren't sure how it's pa.s.sed, there's a chance he might have exposed you." I left unsaid what I didn't want to think about: the more intimate contact Sullivan and Connie had, the more likely Connie might have been infected.

Connie was as brave in the face of this news as she'd been facing down a vampire coming at her throat, but I could tell by the set of her brows that she was worried. Who wouldn't be? "I see," she finally said. "How will I know if I have it?"

I thought about Iban's face and shuddered. "Believe me. You'll know."

"You're scaring me. Do you have it?"

"No. Definitely not."